Eugene Onegin

Impossible love

Tatiana is an innocent young Russian girl in the 19th century who falls in love with a dandy from St. Petersburg, the arrogant but attractive Eugene Onegin. This is the plot premise of this opera by Tchaikovsky, based on a novel by Pushkin.

Two of the greats in Russian Romanticism. In this opera, Tchaikovsky and Pushkin—the greatest examples of Russian Romanticism—speak to us about impossible romances, homosexuality, dandies, love letters and duels of honor.During the entire show, we’ll be accompanied by Russian soprano Anna Samuil who has played the role of Tatiana on several occasions. With Anna, we’ll try to fulfill one of Tchaikovsky’s dreams: that the performers in his opera be the same age as the characters they play. To do so, we’ve called on several voice students from the Liceo Conservatory of Barcelona to audition.

From amongst them we will choose two to play Tatiana and Onegin and sing the final duet from this opera before an audience in the Conservatory’s auditorium. Anna will be in charge of teaching and directing the students during the selection process.

We’ll also talk to Marc Giró, editor of the fashion magazine Marie-Claire. With him we’ll chat about what it means to be an authentic dandy and what were the problems Tchaikovsky had to face for being gay. And with journalist Xavier Domingo, we’ll dramatize one of those legendary duels of honor to help us understand the Russian soul.

This is undoubtedly a show that will delight all those who have ever lived through an impossible love story and who define themselves as incurable romantics.